I'm only a Photoshop hack, but I always wondered what the north end zone would look like if it had been done right and had a true upper and lower deck all the way across. I started playing with the picture that other folks had been Photoshopping and it actually turned out pretty good so I kept going. I then copied the "new" north end zone in the south end zone. This is where my Photoshop skills ran out though and I couldn't get the field to look quite right or how to get the score board back in. I was able to add the upper deck on the east-side like some others did though and here is what I came up with:



It looks like some of you are pretty good at this kind of stuff, so I was hoping someone could take a stab at cleaning up what I started. I think it would be cool if eGriz put together a fan-inspired rendering of the WaGriz we'd like to see in 20 or 30 years to compare to with the rending that the actual architects will eventually come up with.

With the North, South, and East parts of the stadium being expanded, it doesn't seem right to leave the West side untouched. I couldn't figure out how to add this to the picture, but I'm picturing a two story structure to house the press boxes, luxury suites, and the club-level seating. Similar to the one at Finley stadium in Chattanooga:



Last but not least (since we're dreaming) we'd need a duplicate score board and big screen for the North End zone.

I think an approach like this the best way to maximize the number of seats that could feasibly be added to WaGriz. It would be awesome if the 20 or 30-year master plan was designed to get us to something like this. Who knows how many expansions the stadium will have by then, but at this rate I'm worried about the Lego effect others mentioned in similar threads.

I believe the AD email said he was going to wrap the east side upper deck into the north end zone. So maybe it needs to be wrapped on both sides.

Still no Lights in 20 years......

GeauxGriz wrote:Still no Lights in 20 years......

Nope, sorry geaux. Some people have to travel hundreds of miles for games and to have to pay for a motel on top of $25 tickets to see Ft. Lewis would be just too much.

We'll be 1-a if it gets that big.





DISCLAIMER: I am 100% against moving to 1-a, but I think the bigger stadium is the "powers-to-be's" plan to move up...IMHO.

grizfnz wrote:

GeauxGriz wrote:Still no Lights in 20 years......

Nope, sorry geaux. Some people have to travel hundreds of miles for games and to have to pay for a motel on top of $25 tickets to see Ft. Lewis would be just too much.

Hey, when the lights do go up, you can pitch a tent in my back yard. Free of charge. Heck I'll even throw in some popcorn. :popcorn: (Dang it... where is the smiley that gives the other smiley, who is hundreds of miles from home, some popcorn???)

GRZFTBL wrote:We'll be 1-a if it gets that big.

Do you really think so? Fixing the north end zone wouldn't really add that many more seats would it? Using the lower-level seating that exists under the upper deck of the northwest “wing” from the most recent expansion, we're talking about extending the lower deck about 2 or 3 rows deep underneath the upper deck, right? Assuming this is true we're talking ~100 people per row that's a net increase of ~300 seats in the lower deck. Assuming ~200 seats could be added as a result of the new upper deck being connected to the upper decks of the "wings" from the previous expansion, that would mean net gain of ~500 new seats in the North end zone.

The south end zone currently holds ~2500, so replacing that with a structure similar to the "new” north end zone would mean a net gain of ~6000 seats. Assuming the upper deck on the east side eventually doubled the amount of seating that is currently available on the east side that would mean another ~ 6500 seats. Assuming another ~1000 seats are added when the west-side structure was expanded (see below), that would mean a total increase of ~14,000 new seats for a new capacity of ~37,000.
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Side Note: I did a lot of rounding to make the math easy, so please don’t reply back trying to shoot holes in my numbers. I’m just screwing around.
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I really don't think that's unrealistic either. Remember that 20 years ago WaGriz was 12,500 seat stadiums. Today it's a 23,000 seat stadium that's an increase of 10,500 (actually 10,617) over the last 20 years. Another 20 years of the same growth and that's 33,500.

A ~37,000 WaGriz Stadium though is still relatively small compared to other college football stadiums and I don't think it means that UM would have to move up to I-A. In fact, if UM is going to remain the premier I-AA institution in 20 or 30 years, a master plan like this is a must. Who knows, we may even get lights!

By the way, here is what I was thinking for the press box on the West Side of the stadium:

Have we ever considered moving up to BC subdivision? (Get off 1a, it is no longer 1a) That would be a good move. Maybe we could move into the WAC and join Nevada and Boise State?

What are the pitfalls of such a move? I think it would be great to play major college football!

here we go again

Havregriz wrote:Get off 1a, it is no longer 1a)

To me, it is.

Just like "Northern", not MSU-Northern. And "Eastern", not MSU-Billings.

If I had my way we'd [/b]reduce the size of WGS to 5,000 so that we didn't intimidate our opponents in our new affiliation, the Frontier Conference. You'd get to see all your favorite Montana high schools stars all season long and travel would be a piece of cake. GrizNation could make every road game from Billlings and Havre to Helena, Dillon and Butte. Once a season we'd play a big revenue game out of conference at Cheney or Ogden.

Stop me before I post more. I'm sorry, but this whole stadium issue, considering the competition the Griz play reminds of a guy who invests in a tuxedo, but has no where to wear it.